NALC President: Ryan budget plan is path to inequality and national decline

The House Budget Committee’s proposed budget for 2013 continues the assault on federal employees by calling for a freeze on federal workers’ salaries for an additional three years and for massive cuts to retirement benefits.

“Federal workers are the heart and soul of the middle class,” NALC President Fredric V. Rolando said, “but it seems that some members of Congress are determined to keep trying to use federal workers’ pay and benefits as a sort of piggy bank to finance their budget proposals.”

Under the plan released Tuesday by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), federal employees would have their salaries frozen for three more years and would face massive cuts to the retirement benefits promised when they were hired.

“As employees of the United States Postal Service, letter carriers have earned the right to bargain collectively with our employer for our salaries, which are paid for purely by postal revenues and not by taxes,” Rolando said. “But fairly or not, the salaries of our brothers and sisters in the federal workforce often are held up as examples during our bargaining discussions, so federal pay freezes—or even cuts—could wind up having a negative effect on our own salary negotiations.

“Meanwhile, all of us rely on the federal system for our retirement benefits, either through CSRS or FERS,” he said. “Cutting those benefits not only would break a promise made to us when we were hired, forcing us to contribute more money out of our own pockets to help pay for these promised benefits they would amount to a further pay cut.”

Besides, Rolando said, the recently passed extension of the payroll tax holiday already includes a provision that requires new federal employees hired after this year to pay four times as much in retirement contributions as current employees pay.

“These newest attacks on federal workers’ pay and benefit seem to follow the example set by Congressman Dennis Ross,” Rolando said. In January, the Florida Republican introduced H.R. 3813, a measure calling for the wholesale elimination of the defined benefit pension that government workers receive under the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). Instead, under the Ross plan, FERS annuitants would be entitled only to the benefits earned through both Social Security and the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), under the misguided notion since defined-benefit pensions are disappearing from the private sector, they should be taken away from government workers, too.

Ross has tried to attach H.R. 3813 to a number of high-profile bills, most recently a measure to reauthorize national highway-funding legislation.

The Ryan budget doubles down on the strategy outlined in last year’s GOP budget: It would end Medicare as we know it by turning it into a voucher program, increase defense spending when we already spend more on the military than every other nation on earth combined, cut tax rates for corporations and the rich while phasing out tax deductions for the middle class, and massively downsizing just about everything else in the government, from the FBI and the EPA to the public education and infrastructure investments. It’s not a “path to prosperity” as Ryan claims, but a path to inequality and national decline.

“The NALC strongly opposes this or any budget plan that wraps cuts to federal workers’ pay and benefits in the mantle of ‘deficit reduction,’” Rolando said. “Federal workers—and workers in general—did not cause this country’s budget problems, yet some in Congress seem hell-bent on making federal workers pay to fix them.”

Rolando and Guffey are not covering your back, they care less about VERA’s, Guffey / APWU are the worst, Rolando though wants also to make the bill so amended, it will never pass.
Mismanagement and over funding, and the dues hungry Unions = downfall of USPS, lies and more lies, the USPS already uses the Inspectors and OIG, Office of Inspector General to set up craft employees, two sets of rules, just like the IRS, a Gestapo mentality, offering a decent early retirement/ Incentives would be one way to escape the deteriorating work places in the USPS, the work environment has always been about management inflating numbers, lying about getting mail out when it is stacked somewhere or sent back to be reprocessed, and using threats (OIG, Inspection Service, intimidation, following craft workers off the job etc.) and abusive tactics for managers to get their bonuses, always a daily fight for us workers to survive, yes it is a daily war to get you the customer your mail, end this monopoly now !
Support S.1789 as it is , because Goofball Guffey of the APWU already has said ( as well as Rolando the NALC Cuban Clown) that neither he nor his members will support any bill unless all the Union’s agenda items are included, the NALC and APWU are calling it the “Kill Bill S.1789”.

Gideon. The statements you made are 100% correct. Economic factors of supply and demand determine revenue factors. THE usps DEMAND IS DIMINISHING RAPIDLY RESULTING IN MASSIVE MONATARY LOSSES. Supply of services exceeds demand resulting in negative reurns. Cost effective operations must be employed as revenue cannot be generated to meet expenses. USPS has negative earnings and is controlled by craft and management unions. Politicans give into pressures that could cost votes and their main objective is to be reelected regardless of the cost.

S. 1789 could come up Monday: An amended version of S. 1789 – which the NALC has seen – appears headed for consideration on the floor of the Senate as early as Monday. Based on what little we know right now, the expectation is that the amendments go far enough toward addressing the major issues we have with this deeply enhanced legislation. The NALC is prepared to mobilize members to support any measure that includes Early Retirement Incentives for all craft employees.

What are the men and women, taxpayers have put in office really doing for the good of the people? Nothing! Why are they singling out federal workers retirement? Our salries already have a freeze, why put more burdens on us? We work hard for everything we earn, why do we have to be the only ones that pay the cost? Why do the working class have to pay, while the one per centers refuse to pay they fair tax share, but yet put more and more on average salary americans! Wake up congress and fight this proposal down! America is depending on you!

Gideon, I agree the business model needs to be changed. The Problem is their fix is the wrong answer. They are doing the same thing with less workers, at this rate the postal service will be gone in less than 10 years. You can’t let your customers dictate how to run your business. They have their own self interest in mind and don’t care about your longevity.

The BIG PROBLEM with Americans is that they are as misinformed as this poor person posting fabrications to support an agenda of Privatization. They have no idea what they are talking about and they can’t even get their “FACTS” straight.

Yeah, “CONGRESS” is doing the “pre-funding” of OUR FUTURE HEALTHCARE AND RETIREMENT COSTS….what a boob.

Wage Slave – You’re right I dont know all the ins and outs of Postal finances. What I do know is this. Your company is supported mainly by sales of postage. Your company is losing 9-10 billion dollars a year. If congress stops the prefunding of your retirement/healthcare that only accounts for about 5-6 billion dollars. So you need to address the other 4-5 billion a year you are losing. Like most businesses that rely on printed material (books, newspapers, magazines, etc) you are losing business because the business environment surrounding that product is changing. Mostly due to the internet, smart phones, ipads, etc. So to survive the business model must change or fail. The majority of Americans do not want the Postal Service to fail, but they also dont want the Postal Service to become another burden on the American Taxpayer. Instead of sticking to a dying business model here’s some suggestions 1) why not go to 5 days of delivery like your compettitors. 2) Congress should stop the prefunding which appears to be just another congressional slush fund. After they do those 2 things see where your financials stand before resorting to closures. Then you still may need to reduce facilities but maybe not as many. Or as a 3rd option offer buyout like a lot of corporations do under these circumstances. However, staying with the current business model and business situation seems to be the wrong course.

Our Senators and Congressman should look at their own retirement and health benefits before they make decisions to cut the federal employee. Pensions for life after one term! Where do I sign? They should fall under the same benefit plan as the federal employee does.

S.1789 is not that bad if amended, if all depend on Congress, and they amend it, forget it, when did they do anything good, just Trillions to the greedy banks and failed companies, let the PMG offer incentives/ VERA now, he has no choice, Congress will pass something and it will not be legislation, Trillions for some, but for workers, cut the pensions, Paul Ryan is the Marie Antoinette of today, Obama is the Nero of today, yack yack, and no substance, the price of gas is up because this administration wants to force the green energy issue, so force NY and other states to allow fracking ( which is done in any state drilling for gas), natural gas is the future and cheapest energy available, there are natural gas pumping stations on the PA Turnpike and across the country, invest in that, because solar will never be cheap enough to afford nor supply enough energy, and offer the VERA!, Now

GET A LIFE AND A BRAIN “GIDEON”….You either don’t work here or you are intensely ignorant of how the USPS finances it’s operations with it’s own revenue stream and HOW CONGRESS SCREWED THE USPS IN 2006 WITH THE PAEA.

You talk like a Tea Bagger with no idea about what is going on here…YOUR IDEA is to cut, cut, cut and bleed the USPS dry along with it’s workers….it appears YOU AGREE WITH DARRELL ISSA AND THE OTHER REPUBLICAN REPTILES THAT WANT TO TOSS US TO THE CURB ALONG WITH SENIOR CITIZENS, THE POOR, THE RETIRED, THE INFIRM, THE UNEMPLOYED AND ANYONE WHO NEEDS FOOD STAMPS TO LIVE….YOU and your three pointed hat friends need to try and find your brains….they apparently fell out while you were sleeping.

What most of Americans seem to forget is that this country is going broke. You cant keep borrowing money from China and think things will end well. You cant keep taking money and pouring into the endless pit of government give aways. A pay freeze is better than no pay, a job is better than no job and a prosperous country is better than a broke debtor nation. At some point people in this country need to think of the country and not themselves. But like the people of Greece we will run this country into the ground with our self serving narrow mindedness. Like JFK said and what this generation has forgotten. “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your county.”

“Cutting those benefits not only would break a promise made to us when we were hired,” Well welcome to my world . Why then are you in support of removing retirees from FEHB and into Medicare with a Postal Only Health Plan . You don’t give a darn about that do you. I want to keep my plan and you should be fighting for it ,not joining with management to get rid of my benefits that I was told I would have when i was hired and reired…… Let me guess ? A union only health plan run by Rolando.

You definitely gotta love the 1% in this country… They have the power and control these middle class HATERS!!!! I’m sure most of these Republicans grew up poor and understood what it was to live paycheck to paycheck.. Look at them now, who’s paying their salaries and their 20 plus staff members and all their offices??? WE THE TAXPAYERS!!!!!! Just like the Post Office, fucked up ways of thinking!!!!!! GOD help us!!!!!

I am an outsider looking in upon the postal service issues. I for one appreciate my mail service and know how hard it is to get this kind of good services in this day and age. The congress we have before us is not responsive to the peoples wishes. There is one thing that will change everything. That is to use the most powerful means all of us have for change. That one and most powerful thing is your VOTE. I highly recommend voting against those in congress that do not wish to keep good mail service to all. I am saying this because I have in the past had to drive three miles to my private mail box.Closing some local post offices here in Oklahoma will make some trips to the closest P. O. twenty miles. I know this because my wife is a postal employee. My congressmen are all Republicans and I have herd nothing of them supporting the postal system here in Oklahoma. So my advice will be taken by myself and my spouse. We will not support or vote for these people. The same would go if they were Democrats. We can show congress how it is to be unappreciated and unemployed. The one thing they the congress understands is a no vote for them.